One of the major steps in community improvement lies in each citizen developing a personal responsibility for the activities in the community. Long lasting solutions to community issues require “buy in” and involvement from all segments of our community. Solutions that are not truly integrated into all segments of the community and accepted by all are not…
Thoughts
Empathy is complicated
Empathy is described as the trait that allows us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes to understand their situation and their responses to it. It is one of the most difficult personality traits to employ on a regular basis. And a recent book reminded me of the breadth of empathy that those in leadership positions can…
Talk. Read. Sing. Repeat.
Everyone strives to do what is best for his or her children. Parenting books provide plenty of information, concerned family members lend plenty of well-meaning advice, and health professionals try to provide balanced material that is evidence-based and meant to be as helpful and straightforward as possible. Pediatricians themselves seek sound scientific evidence when counseling their…
SSNRs and Mr. Rogers
“The roots of a child’s ability to cope and thrive, regardless of circumstance, lie in that child’s having had a small, safe place (an apartment, a room, a lap) in which, in the companionship of a loving person, that child could discover that he or she was loveable and capable of loving in return. If a…
“With malice toward none, with charity for all”
In a society where our motto is “In God We Trust”, love for others should be relatively easy. Yet we all know that nothing could be further from the truth. We have a tough time with this one. Sometimes it’s relatively easy to love “certain people” but tough to love those “other people.” If we’re going to make a…
The Cost of Lies
Lies are terrible things. They erode personal trust. They erode social trust. They can set us up for disaster or they can impede our recovery from disaster. They harm our relationships and hurt our self-esteem. Let’s look at the way lies will affect us going forward—by looking at the various stages where they come into play. Purposeful untruths at any…